GRAPHIC ARTIST / HONG KONG

TGIF! EXHIBITION

TGIF! At the end of a long workweek, this catchphrase is more than just a sigh of relief and a welcome greeting to the weekend. There’s something significant about the life that’s lived outside of office hours – a time symbolic for reasons beyond the need for relaxation. In the space between an evening commute and a Monday morning meeting, how is one’s time spent? Do activities of leisure, various hobbies, and other personal pursuits shed light on the mask behind the office persona? Do these activities reveal careers individuals wish they had? Lives they wish they led? People they dream of becoming?

This idea of a separate life after work is the concept behind TGIF!, an exhibition co-curated by local Hong Kong artists Ronan Leung and Emily Eldridge, which features their artwork alongside that of fellow Hong Kong-based creatives Catherine Grossrieder, Emilie Sarnel, and Jimmy Ming Shum. TGIF seeks to explore the notion of the individual’s workplace façade; the mask one projects to colleagues, superiors, and acquaintances – a pretense that infrequently delves into the reality of one’s inner life. Through photography, illustration, and painting, TGIF! investigates the private world of the authentic self.

BOOM, a new concept gallery/bar/café in the hip Tai Ping Shan Street neighborhood, was the perfect location for TGIF! Previously a run-down, forgotten shop, BOOM is the clever reinvention of a traditional workspace, new life breathed into something old.